The Kyle Schwarber Show Rolls On
Cubs castoff continues crushing; too little, too late for Mets offense
The evening began with Gary Cohen calling pigeons rats with wings on SNY’s broadcast lead-in and that was only the start of the fun on Monday night in DC.
Jerad Eickhoff got the ball coming off a strong initial outing for New York on June 21 versus Atlanta (four scoreless). Unfortunately, things didn’t go as smoothly this time out for the 30-year-old right-hander.
Eickhoff was welcomed with back-to-back home runs via Kyle Schwarber and Trea Turner, putting the Mets in an early 2-0 hole, followed by a rocket double off the bat of Juan Soto to start the game.
Gerardo Parra added a solo shot leading off the second to make it a 3-0 game, just for good measure.
Washington’s bats — Schwarber (110.2 MPH exit velocity), Turner (106.7 MPH), Soto (101.7 MPH), Parra (100.9 MPH) — weren’t showing Eickhoff any hospitality whatsoever early on.
Downright rude, if you’re asking me.
The Mets’ offense struggled to find a rhythm again on Monday. Shocker…
Jeff McNeil — hitless in four games versus Philadelphia over the weekend — jumped on Nats’ spot-starter Paolo Espino for a leadoff base hit in the first but was eliminated on Dominic Smith’s inning-ending double-play.
Patrick Mazeika singled (dribbler down the line that smooched the third-base bag) with one out in the third but was left stranded, and the lull rolled on.
Eickhoff got through the bottom of the third on seven pitches, offering a glimpse of encouragement after a very rough start to the night, and the Mets finally made some waves at the plate in the top of the fourth, but to no avail.
Dom Smith’s tag-evading infield hit and Pete Alonso’s bloop single afforded New York the opportunity to get back in the game but neither Billy McKinney nor Kevin Pillar could cash in. Onward…
Following another scoreless frame for Eickhoff (and another hard-hit ball for Washington; Parra, 96.6 MPH two-out double), Luis Guillorme singled to begin the fifth.
As we all could have predicted — despite a perfect one-out sacrifice bunt from Eickhoff to advance Guillorme to second — the Mets couldn't capitalize on the leadoff baserunner.
When lifetime minor leaguer Paolo freaking Espino (I believe that’s his given name; will confirm) is putting up five scoreless against you, it’s safe to assume your offense is struggling. Oof.
Adding insult to whatever this offense had devolved into, Schwarber went deep again in the fifth, taking Eickhoff deep on an 82 MPH middle-middle slider to extend the Nats’ lead to 4-0.
For those who are keeping track, that’s the 28-year-old’s 15th home run in his last 17 games. That matches Barry Bonds (2001) and Sammy Sosa (1998) for most home runs over a 17-game span in MLB history (stat pulled by Jason Catania of MLB.com).
The dude’s putting up Steroid Era numbers. Cool, cool. The Cubs must be very happy with their decision to designate Schwarber for assignment this winter.
The Mets went down without so much as a whimper against left-hander Sam Clay in the sixth, and the chance of a favorable outcome was looking dire.
Yan Gomes’ double in the sixth was Washington’s seventh hit of the night against Eickhoff — all were for extra bases and averaged 103.2 MPH off the bat; not ideal and Starlin Castro’s RBI single in the next at-bat scored Gomes to make it a 5-0 game.
Sheesh.
This team has been doing amazing things this season under the conditions they’ve found themselves in, but, as Gare noted on the SNY broadcast, you can only imagine where they’d be with league-average offensive production.
Plenty of time to rectify those shortcomings, but wow, the first two-thirds of this game was ugly. Thankfully, the Mets would show signs of life before the end of the night.
Guillorme led off the seventh with an infield hit, Jose Peraza (pinch-hitting for Eickhoff; 6 IP, 5 ER; 74 pitches) was hit by a pitch, and McNeil put the Mets on the board with a two-out RBI single to cut the deficit to 5-1, but that was all they’d manage in the frame.
Sean Reid-Foley navigated around two baserunners in the seventh, escaping with a scoreless frame, and it may have swung the momentum just enough to wake up the Mets’ offense, even just for a moment.
Dom led off the eighth with his second hit of the game and Pete absolutely crushed a first-pitch offering from Justin Miller, cutting the Nats’ lead to 5-3 and breathing life into this roster.
Billy McKinney followed Alonso’s blast with a solo shot of his own — his eighth of the season and fifth with New York — to slice Washington’s lead to 5-4 and the Metsies have a pulse!
Pillar, Michael Conforto (pinch-hitting for Guillorme), and James McCann (hitting for Mazeika) couldn’t keep the magic going, but the offensive uptick — even in its fleeting form — was nice to see heading into a big week at Atlanta and the Yanks.
Ah, but the close-late drama would be short-lived.
Miguel Castro (spin rates back at his season averages, for what it’s worth) allowed a towering three-run homer to Ryan Zimmerman in the bottom of the eighth, putting things out of reach on this brief DC jaunt.
Muster whatever positives you can from this one and keep the ball rolling. What else can you do?
Tylor Megill takes the hill in Tuesday’s series opener in Atlanta (Charlie Morton gets the ball for the Bravos). Turn the page. LFGM.
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